--- title: "Yorkshire Part 1" type: "post" post_id: "365" slug: "ilkley-and-dalesway" canonical: "https://eskerhazy.ca/?p=365" markdown_url: "https://eskerhazy.ca/?easypress_markdown_post=365&easypress_markdown_format=md" json_url: "https://eskerhazy.ca/?easypress_markdown_post=365&easypress_markdown_format=json" txt_url: "https://eskerhazy.ca/?easypress_markdown_post=365&easypress_markdown_format=txt" published: "2026-10-13T19:45:06+00:00" modified: "2026-10-13T19:45:06+00:00" author: "admin" categories: - "Le peregrinazioni di Lis" tags: - "Bolton Abbey" - "Dalesway" - "Grassinton" - "Ilkley Moor" - "River Wharfe" site_name: "eskerhazy" publisher: "" language: "en-US" generator: "easyPress Markdown" generator_version: "1.0.6" --- *In which Lis leaves Scotland and journeys to the Yorkshire Dales, whereupon she met a cow and calf.* ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019581-768x1024-1.jpg)I went to visit Chris, the other backpacker who I met in Inuvik 20 years ago, who is now in Yorkshire with his family. The first night I arrived at sunset they took me up to the Cow and Calf rock formations up on the hill above the city. For the first time, they realised that there’s a pair of lips on the rock! Chris also got me to climb up a rock face I never would have dared if it was light out. By (near full) moonlight, we also went up to see some ancient cup and ring rock carvings. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019010-1024x771.jpg)Chris and Jen and the kids welcomed be so warmly and made me feel at home (again – this has been a beautiful theme with the Arctic friends I’ve visited). ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019032-2-1024x771.jpg)I went for a walk up on Ilkley Moor. There are parts with this huge flagstone paving, and then other parts have a myriad of little footpaths that you can get lost in… Except you can always find your way back downhill to the town – it just might be a bit roundabout. (I did end up straying onto Burley Moor via this method.) ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019044.jpg)Tzip2 found what she thinks is an ancient cairn up on the moor. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019050-771x1024.jpg)Now in the light of day I saw where we’d climbed up in the moonlight the previous day. Yikes. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019053-1024x771.jpg)Stunning views over the town and countryside. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019084-771x1024.jpg)Next, off on the Dalesway walk. The first several stages follow the River Wharfe. (Not Worf. This is a river, not a klingon.) ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019086-1024x771.jpg)![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019099-1024x771.jpg)At this point there was a short section along a road with no shoulder, and I went a bit off the route, through a field, following a path… Soon I ended up scaling a fence, crossing this overgrown viaduct, skittering dangerously down a leafy slope, and crossing a tiny brook before finding the correct path again. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019096-1024x771.jpg)![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019102-1024x771.jpg)And I arrived at Boulton Abbey and Priory (where Chris and Jen got married). ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019108-771x1024.jpg)![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019142-771x1024.jpg)Through the Strid wood, where the river has carved gorges and caves (very dangerous, according to the signs) through the limestone. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019147-1024x771.jpg)Lots of great bridges. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019159-1024x771.jpg)To Barden, and Barden tower, where I would catch my bus back to Ilkley. The Dalesbus in this area is a minibus that careens along the narrow, winding country roads at unbelievable speeds. Hang on. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019164-1024x771.jpg)Also of note, I had a nasty head cold and by the end of the day wasn’t breathing very well, so I took a sick day to chill out at home. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019203-1024x771.jpg)The following day, Tzip2 didn’t feel like hiking, so she hung out with her new guinea pig friends instead. And I was off on the Dalesbus back to Barden to continue the walk. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019210-771x1024.jpg)While stopping for a ‘wild wee’ (terminology I learned from Daisy), I met some old alligator friends on the fence post where I hung my bag. (Ladybug/ladybird larvae) ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019218-1024x771.jpg)At quite a few spots along the river, there were stepping stones to cross over. I wanted to cross by the stones at Boulton Abbey the other day, but didn’t dare because my year old made my balance a bit iffy. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019228-1024x771.jpg)There are no words. Just beautiful. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019231-1024x771.jpg)![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019242-1024x771.jpg)![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019245-1024x771.jpg)This set of stepping stones I did cross! ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019266-1024x771.jpg)And ending in the beautiful town of Grassington, which is where Darrowby in the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small is filmed. And then I got the bus stop wrong and missed the direct bus home and had to take another to Skipton and transfer to get back home. ![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000019275-1024x771.jpg)In Skipton I wandered a bit while waiting for the bus to see the canal and this beautiful church. Then back to Ilkley, where every night Jen and/or Chris made excellent meals!